Chemoimmunoprophylaxis against bovine tropical theileriosis in young calves: a comparison between buparvaquone and long-acting oxytetracycline

Eighteen seven to 21-day-old crossbred (Bos taurus cross Bos indicus) calves were allocated to four groups (A to D). Groups A and B each consisted of six calves and groups C and D three calves each. Each calf in groups A, B and C was inoculated with ground-up tick supernate (GUTS) equivalent to two infected acini prepared from Theileria annulata-infected Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum. Each calf in group A was also given a single intramuscular injection of buparvaquone, 2.5 mg kg-1 bodyweight simultaneously with GUTS, whereas each calf in group B was given a single intramuscular injection of long-acting oxytetracycline, 20 mg kg-1 bodyweight following inoculation of GUTS. In calves of group A clinicopathological reactions were negligible, whereas in calves of group B mild to severe reactions were observed resulting in the death of three of the six calves. All the calves of group C (infected, untreated controls) died of acute theileriosis. All the surviving calves of groups A and B withstood a lethal homologous challenge given on day 30 after immunisation, indicating no difference in the immune status of the surviving calves of the two groups. Group D, challenge control, all calves died of theileriosis within 18 days of challenge.     

Immunization against bovine tropical theileriosis, using 60Co-irradiated infective particles of Theileria annulata (Dschunkowsky and Luhs 1904) derived from ticks.

Portions of ground supernate material from Theileria annulata-infected and prefed adults of the Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum were irridiated by 60Co source at 0, 3, 5, 6, 7, or 9 krads. These portions were injected subcutaneously into different groups of cross-bred calves. The calves injected with 0-, 3-, or 5-krad irradiated tick supernate had severe reactions (rectal temperature 39.8 to 41.6 C, two- to fourfold enlargement of prescapular lymph gland, mean peak parasitemia 27.3% to 32.5% infected erythrocytes, decreased PCV 41.7% to 60.7%, and hemoglobin concentration 37.5% to 50.8%), and many died, whereas those injected with 6- or 7-krad irradiated tick supernate had minimal reactions (rectal temperature 39.2 to 39.8 C, slight enlargement of prescapular lymph gland, parasitemia less than 1%, decrease packed cell volume 15.1%, and hemoglobin concentration 20.1%), with no mortality. All surviving calves injected with nonirradiated (0-) or 3-, 5-, 6-, or 7-krad irradiated tick supernate developed comparable indirect fluorescent antibody titers and were resistant to challenge exposure with infective material from 30 ticks. The calves injected with 9-krad irradiated tick supernate showed no reactions and did not develop indirect fluorescent antibody titers; they were also susceptible to challenge exposure with infective tick material.     

Coat protein-mediated transgenic resistance in tomato against a IB subgroup Cucumber mosaic virus strain

Transgenic tomato plants containing the coat protein (CP) gene of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) of subgroup IB were developed through Agrobacterium-mediated transformations. The progenies of transgenic plants showed the presence of transgene, its expression and translation of 26 KDa CP. The T₁ and T₂ generation plants were evaluated for resistance against challenge inoculations by a homologous strain of CMV. Visual observations of challenged transgenic plants categorized them into resistant, tolerant and susceptible as compared with untransformed control plants. Out of 33 plants of the T₁ generation, 36.3% showed resistance and remained symptomless throughout their life, 48.4% showed tolerance which developed delayed symptoms of mild mosaic, and 15.1% showed susceptibility to CMV which developed severe systemic mosaic and leaf distortion symptoms after 30?days of virus challenge. Out of 120 plants of the T₂ generation, 60% showed resistance, 26.6% were tolerant and only 13.3% were found susceptible to challenge inoculations of CMV. Resistant transgenic plants also showed less CP accumulation in systemic upper leaves as compared with challenged untransformed plants. In this study, CP of a CMV subgroup IB strain has demonstrated a significant level of resistance in transgenic tomato plants against the CMV strain. The strategy may be applied for better quality and productivity of tomato crops.     

Molecular characterization of Cucumber mosaic virus strain causing severe mosaic disease on petunia in India

Severe mosaic, yellowing and stunting symptoms were observed on petunia (Petunia hybrida L.) growing in pots at NBRI and in various gardens of Lucknow, India. The association of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) with the mosaic disease was detected based on positive bioassay on susceptible hosts, isometric cored virus particles of ~28?nm during electron microscopic observations in leaf dip preparations and positive amplification of expected size (~650?bp) during RT-PCR using coat protein gene specific primers. Further, the complete RNA 3 genomic fragment of virus isolate was amplified by RT-PCR using RNA 3 specific primers. The obtained amplicons of ~2.2 Kb were cloned and sequenced. The analysis of sequence data of RNA 3 revealed highest sequence identities (96%) with several CMV strains which belong to subgroup IB. The virus isolate also showed closest phylogenetic relationships with banana strain of CMV of subgroup IB (Acc. EF178298) reported from India. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first molecular characterization of CMV strain of subgroup IB causing severe mosaic disease on petunia in India.     

Sources of resistance to Indian pathotypes of Puccinia graminis tritici and P. triticina in durum wheat

Stem rust and leaf rust are important diseases affecting durum wheat production in India. Inheritance and extent of diversity in resistance were studied in five durum genotypes, viz. ?B 662', ?ED 2398‐A', ?HG 110', ?IWP 5019' and ?Line 1172? using Pgt pathotypes 40A and 117‐6, and Pt pathotypes 12‐2 and 104‐2. F₂ and F₃ analyses showed that resistance was conferred by one or two genes in each line. In all, four genes for resistance to 40A, and eight each for pathotypes 117‐6 and 12‐2 were identified among the five genotypes, and three for resistance to 104‐2 among B 662, ED 2398‐A and IWP 5019 were indicated by tests of allelism. Although the gene identities are not known, at least some of them should be different from Sr2, Sr7b, Sr8a, Sr8b, Sr9e, Sr9g, Sr11, Sr12, Sr13, Sr14, Sr17, Sr23 and Sr28; and from Lr3, Lr14a, Lr23 and Lr27 + Lr31. These genotypes enrich the diversity of resistance to stem rust and leaf rust for durum wheat improvement.     

Proteomic analysis of multidrug resistant Escherichia coli strains from scouring calves

A number of researchers have used chemical inhibitors that target membrane efflux pumps as an experimental treatment strategy for multidrug resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. However, most of these compounds are toxic in vertebrate animals. The present research was therefore done to describe expression dynamics of drug resistance-associated Escherichia coli proteins that could serve as novel drug targets. Proteomes of MDR and antimicrobial susceptible (AS) E. coli were studied in two dimensional (2-D) polyacrylamide gels and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was performed on proteins of interest. The number of recovered peptides per protein was used to elucidate the amounts of target proteins expressed in MDR and AS E. coli strains. Eight proteins that may be potentially involved in mechanisms of drug resistance were analyzed and identified by LC-MS. These were grouped into membrane porins (TolC, OmpA, OmpC, Nmpc Precursor), proteins involved in microbial protein synthesis (EF-Ts, EF-Tu, RpsA) and Dps, a protein of unknown location and function. Experimental data demonstrated variability in the expression patterns and quantities of the four porins (TolC, OmpA, OmpC, Nmpc precursor), the three microbial protein synthesis associated proteins (EF-Ts, EF-Tu and RpsA), and Dps which has been previously associated with drug resistance. While variability was seen in quantities and expression patterns of some of the proteins of interest, the present data falls short of determining the suitability of these proteins as novel drug targets. Further studies are required to explore how these proteins could be targeted for drug development.     

Bacteria subsisting on antibiotics

Antibiotics are a crucial line of defense against bacterial infections. Nevertheless, several antibiotics are natural products of microorganisms that have as yet poorly appreciated ecological roles in the wider environment. We isolated hundreds of soil bacteria with the capacity to grow on antibiotics as a sole carbon source. Of 18 antibiotics tested, representing eight major classes of natural and synthetic origin, 13 to 17 supported the growth of clonal bacteria from each of 11 diverse soils. Bacteria subsisting on antibiotics are surprisingly phylogenetically diverse, and many are closely related to human pathogens. Furthermore, each antibiotic-consuming isolate was resistant to multiple antibiotics at clinically relevant concentrations. This phenomenon suggests that this unappreciated reservoir of antibiotic-resistance determinants can contribute to the increasing levels of multiple antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria.     

Assessing soil spatial variability and delineating site-specific management zones for a coastal saline land in eastern India

ABSTRACT

The present study was to delineate management zones (MZs) in salt affected Mahakalpada block in eastern India by capturing both spatial variability of soil parameters along with satellite derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). Grid wise 237 soil samples collected from the study area were analyzed and spatial maps were generated for physicochemical properties, DTPA extractable micronutrients, i.e. iron, zinc, copper, and manganese and major nutrients, i.e. available nitrogen (AN), phosphorous (AP), and potassium (AK). Soil electrical conductivity and AK showed a high CV of 100% and 56.7%, respectively. Principal component analysis was performed using the soil spatial maps, NDVI and EVI maps and only four principal components which produced eigenvalues > 1 and accounting for 75.4% of the total variability were retained for further analysis. Further, fuzzy c-mean clustering was used to delineate the MZs based on fuzzy performance index (FPI) and normalized classification entropy (NCE) was used for identifying the three MZs. There was a significant difference between MZ1 and MZ2 for all the variables except AN and EVI whereas all the variables were significantly different between MZ1 and MZ3 highlighting the usefulness of MZs delineation technique for site-specific nutrient management.